The present invention relates to a vehicle door latch device.
In a conventional door latch device, between a synthetic-resin housing and a cover for closing one side of the housing, the ends of operating levers such as an inside lever and a locking lever are exposed from an opening of the housing, and the end of an inner cable of a Bowden cable as a motion-transmitting member is coupled to the ends of the operating levers, and after the end of an outer tube of the Bowden cable is fixed to a cable coupling area of the cover, the auxiliary cover covers a coupling portion between the inner cable and the operating levers, and the end of the outer tube in JP2012-180702A and JP4293116B2
However, in the vehicle door latch devices in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, the auxiliary cover is coupled over the cable coupling area of the cover with a hinge to open and close. Hence, it is not possible at the same time to couple the end of the Bowden cable to the ends of the operating levers, to attach the auxiliary cover over the cable coupling area and to fix the end of the outer cable. Specifically, while the auxiliary cover is open, the end of the inner cable is coupled to the ends of the operating levers and the end of the outer tube of the Bowden cable is fixed to the cable coupling area. Then, the auxiliary cover is turned toward the cable coupling area around the hinge and it is necessary to cover the coupling portion between the inner cable and operating levers and the end of the outer tube. It is not possible to assemble the motion-transmitting member and auxiliary cover to the door latch device efficiently.
Recently in order to improve assembling efficiency of the door latch device, automatic assembling is carried out. In the assembling method, it is difficult to couple the ends of the Bowden cable to the ends of the operating levers automatically while they are positioned. It is necessary to cover the auxiliary cover by turning it over the cable coupling area. It is not possible automatically in one direction to attach the auxiliary cover over the cable coupling area, to couple the end of the inner cable to the ends of the operating levers and to couple the operating levers to the housing, thereby reducing assembling efficiency.